S: Bourbon-forward but not overwhilemingly so. Also some roasted malts, toffee, dark chocolate, and coffee.

T: Complex taste. Lots of vanilla and oak, barrel flavor is huge here. Milk chocolate but not too sweet. Bourbon is there too but blends nicely without overwhelming. Roasty malts are present. Finishes with almost no heat, remarkable that it is 10% ABV.

O: Wow, definitely happy to have had a bottle of this. Killer stuff, world class for sure. First non-lager I've had from Jack's Abby but they nailed it on the head. Just a great, great beer. Treat to have, would love to have it again.

More User Reviews:

This one is pretty heavy-looking, just about black with a tan head somewhere between one and two fingers in height. It displays good retention, remaining creamy, thick and dense while depositing a mix of spotty and patchy lacing on the glass.The bourbon definitely shows, with vanilla, wood and some dark fruits underneath a heavy, rich and chocolaty overtone with maybe just a touch of roast. It gives a little more of a baker's chocolate in the taste but ups vanilla and brown sugar sweetness while adding a touch of sting in the heat. Roast does build, and there's a hint of leafy hoppiness, but the thick and heavy sweetness is what is most heavily showcased.The body is thick and full, as expected, rich and smooth. The alcohol doesn't thin it but adds a nice heat in the feel that may accentuate the smoothness. Carbonation is moderate, just enough to keep it moving well.While this is an excellent beer, it's a bit better if the sweetness doesn't border oppressive. There's excellent use of the barrel and some good complexity, though, and that is not to say it isn't fantastic.

Poured from a 16.9oz bottle (no Bottled On or Best By Date, but I know it was bottled in the first quarter of 2014) into an oversized (18oz) balloon/snifter glass.

A- Pours nearly pitch-black with ruby red highlights noticed at the extreme edges of the glass. The head was khaki in color, yet climbed to less than 1-finger and dissipated rather quickly. This behavior is not surprising for a big and barrel-aged beer. (4.75)

S- Heady aromatics that comprise largely of bourbon, milk chocolate, espresso and vanilla. Although present, subtle notes of coconut and oak tannin are detected. Based on the aroma alone, Baltic Porter is a rather conservative classification for this beer, as it smells more like a bourbon-barrel aged Imperial Stout a la Founders KBS and Goose Island BCBS. (4.75)

T- Much like the nose, bourbon soaked milk chocolate hits first followed by a bourbon soaked coffee bean astringency. The vanilla is also present in the backend and its essence helps smooth things out, providing another ancillary sweetness. (4.5)

M- This is where the Lager yeast strain shines and is somewhat hard to describe: the body of the beer has an initial sensation of being rather full-bodied. However, the palate is left feeling extremely 'light' after the sip. This attribute is contributed by none other than the yeast (and Barrel-Aged Blockhead is another to prove this point). Although sweet, it is far from cloying and the coffee-like astringency on the finish is quite intense. However, a beer of this nature should be a bit brash, and Barrel-Aged Framinghammer is happy to oblige. (4.75)

O- Along with Shmaltz Brewing Co.'s Coney Island Barrel-Aged Blockhead (an Imperial Bock aged in Bourbon Barrels), this is one of the few barrel-aged lagers I am aware of (another being 'Baby Maker,' also from Jack's Abby). This is a massive beer that once again proves that Lager yeast can rightfully due the job of Ale yeast, producing a bombastic Baltic Porter (or better yet because of its roastiness, Russian Imperial Stout) aged in Bourbon Barrels creating a particularly satisfying result. The barrel-aging is significant and only enhances an already well made beer...think again BCBS and KBS! (4.75)

Overall: Jack's Abbey makes some of the best beer coming out of Massachusetts and this is right up there with the best that they brew. Very complex, oaky, and chocolaty, without ever being too overpowering in any area. I would certainly get this one again.

Barrel-Aged Framinghammer opens to a thick, black aroma laced with sugar and vanilla. Fresh-ground oily coffee beans, tobacco, ash, black malt, anise, and burnt toast crust mix nicely with large swaths of toffee, brown sugar, vanilla bean, and heavy whipping cream. Additional chunks of thick brown bread float in the mix, along with toasted pecan and a few dark fruit esters, including fig, date, and raisin. The effects of the barrel aging are pleasantly subtle, adding slight overtones of charcoal and alcohol-soaked wood. As a whole, the nose is very nice, featuring a wide variety of nicely interlaced aromas, and the interplay between roasted coffee, ash, toffee, and whipping cream is especially alluring. The only real fault here lies in the comparative weakness of the aromas, which only manage perhaps a medium-strength appearance.

On the tongue, the beer is bold and darkly beautiful, the barrel aging immediate and potent, with wide swaths of bourbon-laced vanilla and oak crashing instantly against the taste buds. These mix beautifully with the fresh ground oily coffee beans, ash, and smoky tobacco, as well as the toffee, burnt multigrain toast crust, milk chocolate, and heavy whipping cream, the effect vaguely like Bailey’s, but with far more burnt underpinnings. In subsequent sips some of the nuance of the initial sip is gone, the burnt and alcoholic notes overtaking many of the more subtle flavors, but touches of fig, date, and raisin fruit esters are still present, as are bits of pine resin. The beer becomes more ashy and bourbon-laced as it is held on the tongue, never approaching straight bourbon, but moving ever closer, held back by the few remaining sugars. The aftertaste is a continuation of these latter ashy, bourbon-soaked fruits, lingering on the tongue for a decent while. Mouthfeel is an oily, viscous medium to medium-strong, and carbonation is medium-light.

Overall, this is excellent beer, featuring almost everything one could want from a barrel-aged Porter, and in fact the flavors in here are so nice that they show up many barrel-aged Imperial Stouts. But perhaps the best thing of all is the price: for a world-class beer, my .5 liter bottle was only $5.95, making this just about the best buy I’ve ever had.